Frank McCourt
This is the introduction to an interview with Frank McCourt by "Ann Online." To hear the whole interview go to
http://www.annonline.com/interviews/970414/
"Born in Brooklyn, Frank moved to Ireland at age four with his parents and brothers. As tough as life had been for the McCourt's in New York, it doesn't compare to the hardships they encounter in their native country. Penniless and destitute, the McCourt’s finally make it to Limerick where Frank is introduced to a collection of relatives, some as miserly as it is possible to imagine; some, as generous. Frank's father, Malachy, rarely has a job and when he does, spends his wages in the pubs, leaving Frank's mother, Angela, to beg from churches and charity organizations. Despite the tragedy of his drinking, Frank's dad is as charming as a 'shiftless loquacious alcoholic' could be, and he shares a special bond with Frank, revealed through moments of heartrending tenderness. Near death from typhoid fever, Frank spends several months in quarantine in the hospital where he has steady meals, clean sheets, and best of all, books. It is here that he is first introduced to Shakespeare. 'I don't know what it means and I don't care because it's Shakespeare and it's like having jewels in my mouth when I say the words.'"
Here are some listening notes that might be helpful to begin writing about Angela’s Ashes.
1. “The happy childhood is hardly worth your while . . .”
2. The interviewer was, “compelled and repulsed at the same time” by McCourt’s memoir.
3. “The pious mother moaning by the fire; the shiftless, loquacious alcoholic father.”
4. McCourt says that the book had been, “fermenting in my head for a long time.”
5. When asked, “Why was the book well received?” McCourt replies, “It’s honesty . . . if you are in a classroom and you put on an act they can see through it. The more I told the truth, the more comfortable I was.”
6. “It was horrible to relive it.” Some days he didn’t want to get out of bed.
7. The worst was, “My mother’s humiliation; my father going off to England.” I didn’t understand that my father had a disease. I don’t have that lordly attitude to forgive people. I couldn’t sit in judgment. I couldn’t give an A to this kid and a B to that kid.”
8. “I was given that particular childhood to write about it.”
9. Irish have a lack of introspection. “They are busy harping on the past . . . Ireland’s long woeful history.”
10. In Irish culture there is a “fear of showing your tenderness. There is no public display of affection; the Irish are tongue-tied about the things that matter.”
12. There was always forgiveness for his father because of the stories. His father was three people in one, like the Trinity. “In his sober times he was the ideal father. I had those ideal moments.”
13. “Ireland is preoccupied with death. It makes you live more keenly.”
14. We were discouraged from trusting ourselves. Death was a relief.
15. We were “blessed” by being poor. I didn’t see the priests embracing poverty.
16. I’m still sorting it out. Writing the book helped me.
17. "I’d rather be an Italian." Why? Where was "Italy" for the McCourts?
18. What brought Frankie to Shakespeare and put "jewels in Frankie’s mouth?"
